Transmission Powers Economic and National Security
Powering Growth and Affordability: The Role of Transmission in Economic and National Security is a study by National Grid, Electricity Customer Alliance (ECA), and Converge Strategies.
New analysis finds that strategic investment in transmission can save electricity customers up to $15.3 billion while improving reliability, supporting economic growth, and strengthening national security.
Powering Growth and Affordability: The Role of Transmission in Economic and National Security
About the study
America is entering a new era of electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, data centers, defense infrastructure, and economic growth. As demand accelerates, policymakers and industry leaders face critical decisions about how to deliver reliable, affordable power.
Commissioned by National Grid, the Electricity Customer Alliance (ECA), and Converge Strategies and prepared by CERA Consulting, the consulting arm of S&P Global Energy, this study evaluates how transmission investment can help meet rising demand across four regions of the Eastern Interconnection: The Northeast, PJM, SERC, and SPP/MISO South.
The analysis finds that transmission is one of the most cost-effective tools available to serve growing electricity demand, while delivering substantial economic and national security benefits.
Key findings
Economic benefits:
• Interregional transmission, when combined with robust regional transmission, provides the greatest value, with customer savings reaching up to $15.3 billion – two to three times higher than scenarios without interregional connections.
• Transmission reduces the need to build more expensive local generation by enabling regions to access lower-cost electricity from elsewhere on the grid.
• Transmission becomes even more valuable in the future when energy demand rises, helping manage uncertainty associated with AI, data centers, advanced manufacturing, and industrial growth.
National security findings:
• The electric grid serves as a foundational platform for military readiness and operations.
• Interregional transmission provides critical backup capability during emergencies, allowing regions to support one another when local systems are strained or disruptions occur.
• The defense industrial base, including shipyards, aerospace manufacturers, technology suppliers, and weapons producers cannot function without reliable electric infrastructure. A disruption to the grid is a disruption to production.
• A stronger transmission system enhances resilience and reduces vulnerabilities from extreme weather, cyber threats, and physical attacks.
Explore region-specific findings from the study by downloading fact sheets below:
National security-specific findings
Enhancing grid reliability is critical to national defense. Transmission expansion supports three areas of defense activity that are linked to each other: installations and missions, the communities that support military infrastructure, and the network of companies and private industry that make up each region’s “defense industrial base.”
In the most recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress required the Department of War to coordinate with regulatory and planning entities specifically on grid reliability and transmission lines to mitigate risks to military operations. The one-page documents (below), summarize the critical role of transmission infrastructure to national defense in each region analyzed by the study.
*The findings of the study should be considered conservative since they do not include a quantitative assessment of defense benefits.
Study partners
National Grid Ventures (NGV), the commercial arm of National Grid plc, develops, builds and operates energy infrastructure that strengthens the power system and delivers reliable, affordable energy for communities.
In the US, NGV’s portfolio includes competitive transmission, battery storage, solar, LNG storage, and conventional generation assets. A global leader in transmission infrastructure, NGV operates the world’s largest portfolio of high voltage subsea interconnectors in Europe and is applying that expertise to strengthen and expand the US electric grid.
NGV brings decades of experience partnering with regulators and local stakeholders to build energy infrastructure that supports economic growth, improves reliability, and helps deliver lower cost energy to customers.
The Electricity Customer Alliance is a coalition of energy consumers – including large commercial and industrial companies, consumer advocates, and public interest organizations – working to ensure that the US electricity system evolves to meet the needs of a dynamic, digital economy. ECA advocates for transparent governance, modern infrastructure, and customer-focused policy reforms that enhance grid reliability, support economic growth, and lower energy costs.
Converge Strategies, LLC provides consulting services focused on the intersection of energy resilience and national security. It finds new ways to keep the lights on no matter what happens.
